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1 / Getting a Mission
- The University of Alabama Press
- Chapter
- Additional Information
1 / Getting a Mission The introduction gives no hint of what was to come, no indication of the prodigy. William HenryTunner, an American military innovator, was born on Bastille Day, July 14, 1906, in Elizabeth, New Jersey. The fourth of five children of Austrian immigrants, Tunner was, according to his mother, “a completely average boy” as he grew up in the neighboring town of Roselle.1 The first note of excitement came via education. William’s father had studied engineering in his homeland and believed all his offspring should attend college. A noble idea, but it cost money. One sister had just finished at teachers’ college, and another two brothers were enrolled in a local academy. The idea of sending a fourth child to school meant considerable financial strain on the family.2 Then, one day in civics class, Tunner learned that he could get a free college education at West Point—if he qualified. Thanks to local congressman Ernest Ackerman, William discovered that all nominations to military academies were based on competitive examinations. The good news was that politics, status, and money would play no part.3 The bad news was that it would not be easy. In fact, that was no hardship.Tunner perked up, or as one reporter put it, “he got steamed up over the idea of going to West Point.” The future pilot/general later wrote, in appropriate language, “I looked up from the page with a new hope. It was like coming out of the clouds to find a landing field right ahead.” After that, “I crammed. I studied at home and used my scheduled study periods to attend extra classes.” William actually took the test—a standard civil service exam—on two occasions, first in Elizabeth and then later in New Brunswick. Getting a Mission / 5 On his first attempt he scored the highest among all testers in the state and came in second on his next try. In 1924, at the age of seventeen,Tunner graduated high school in Roselle and entered the United States Military Academy at West Point.4 Tunner’s life at the academy seemed reasonably pleasant, and he got good grades. He did not recall hazing as being particularly onerous, in later years remembering , “I felt it was just part of the game,” adding, “A plebe doesn’t have time to think, and so I was either too tired or too busy to consider the changes going on in my life.”5 Records indicate, however, that at least by the time he became an upperclassman , William had become a most pleasant fellow, and often a ringleader in hijinks.Tunner remained, according to his brother-in-law, “the world’s worst poker player and crap shooter,” but had other sterling attributes, such as the time he befriended four of the ladies performing in George White’s Scandals, and persuaded them to visit him and his classmates at West Point. Yearbook editors for Tunner’s graduating class wrote in his entry, “Little did we think, back in the dim dark days of the summer of 1924 . . . that we had on our roster a man of so many diverse accomplishments and possibilities. He was playful , active, and an altogether normal plebe those days, but three years at the Academy have changed Will into an ardent promoter of all the new activities and devotee to all new sports.” They cited him as “a loyal and generous friend . . . a man with an interest in everything from snaring mice to procuring delicious apples from unauthorized orchards.” As a result of such escapades, “Even after three years with him, we never knew what to expect next. One week-end he brought into the barracks the full equipment for the production of fudge, and the next, he turned up with a huge and deadly double-barreled shotgun and calmly announced that he was going hunting.” They also added, “Will’s passions are golf, tennis, riding, fishing, cards—and his passions will not be denied.”6 But more serious matters were also taking place, quietly in private conversations and more demonstratively in public acts. Like all students approaching graduation, William pondered his future. Before him lay the usual array of possibilities : infantry, cavalry, engineers, coast artillery, and others. Endless conversations ensued in the barracks as young men pondered their fate. In his senior year, however, something intervened in the normal decisionmaking process. The army, making sure that cadets were exposed to all aspects of the service, sent...